Saturday, January 16, 2010

Cafe Con Lache Discussion On Ubuntu Forum

This posting originally from Ubuntu Forum member "Script Warlock" it is a nice tutorial/howto to be followed if you choose CCL as your internet cafe/cyber cafe billing system. But currently this project has been unmantained for a while, please take a look at mkahawa for an improved and actively mantained version of CCL

mkahawa builds on the sharp and slick Cafe Con Leche (CCL) - the light, ultra-fast C++ Internet Cafe Management Software for Linux and Windows. This is a continuation of CCL development in another form. 
http://mkahawa.sourceforge.net


cafe con leche: Internet cafe management software

http://ccl.sourceforge.net/

Screenshots


Server


Client

Common Installation

Both side of the application (server and client) has to meet their dependencies, since this is not a debian package, we have to install the dependencies manually. CCL dependencies are
  • sqlite3
  • glib2.0
  • libfox1.4(server), libfox1.6(client)
  • openssl
For the ccl server run these commands :
$ sudo apt-get install sqlite3 libsqlite3-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libfox1.4 libfox1.4-dev (server)
$ sudo apt-get install libglib2.0-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libssl-dev
For the ccl client replace the libfox1.4 run these command :
$ sudo apt-get install libfox-1.6-0 libfox-1.6-dev

Don’t forget the build essentials for compiling from source :

$sudo apt-get install build-essential
Then edit your /etc/ld.so.conf file with :
$sudo gedit /etc/ld.so.conf
And add these lines :
/usr/lib
/usr/local/lib …..and save the changes when done
it may look like this :

include /etc/ld.so.conf.d/*.conf
/usr/lib
/usr/local/lib

Then execute this :

$sudo ldconfig

CCL Server Installation

for the server side you’ll need these 2 files :

cclfox-0.7.1.tar.bz2 here
libccls-0.7.1.tar.bz2 here

Put these files on your home folder and do these steps :

$tar -xjvf libccls-0.7.1.tar.bz2
$cd libccls-0.7.1
$./configure
$make
$sudo make install
$cd ..
$tar -xjvf cclfox-0.7.1.tar.bz2
$cd cclfox-0.7.1
$./configure
$make
$sudo make install

create a folder in the home directory :

$mkdir .cclfox

put this file to the .cclfox folder right click and choose the properties and select permission then tick the box and close. generate the pem by double clicking it and if being prompted just run it.





Then create a launcher on your desktop and add :
cclfox -nossl
on the “command” text box

CCL Client Installation
for the client side you’ll need these 2 files :
cclcfox-0.7.1-FOX-1.6.tar.bz2 here
libcclc-0.7.1.tar.bz2 here

put these files on your home folder and do these steps :

$tar -xjvf libcclc-0.7.1.tar.bz2
$cd libcclc-0.7.1
$./configure
$make
$sudo make install
$cd ..
$tar -xjvf cclcfox-0.7.1-FOX-1.6.tar.bz2
$cd cclcfox-0.7.1
$./configure
$make
$sudo make install
create a folder in the home directory :
$mkdir .cclcfox

put this file to the .cclfox folder right click and choose the properties and select permission then tick the box and close. generate the pem by double clicking it and if being prompted just run it.




then create a launcher on your home folder and add : (Alt+f2 will do)


cclcfox -host serverip -name anynameor(clienthostname) -nossl
on the “command” text box
to check the client hostname simply type in the terminal:
$ hostname
Setting the tariff :

  1. launch the ccl server and choose the tariff tab
  2. select the days(highlighted) before modifying or nothing will change. after the desired values are filled accordingly to your likes click the apply.....




Autorun the ccl client :

to run this on startup in ubuntu/gnome
add the above in System menu ->preferences->sessions(8.04) | startup applications(9.04)
Name: any name
Command: cclcfox -host serverip -name anynameor(clienthostname) -nossl
Comment: whatever

Remote shutdown and reboot :


$sudo chmod 7755 /sbin/shutdown
$sudo chmod 7755 /sbin/reboot

Replacing the desktop lockscreen(client workstation) :


1. kill the cclcfox running >>> sudo kill -9 (pid of cclcfox)
2. create or choose the desired photo, trim down according to the desktop's resolution and save as lockpix.gif in the .cclcfox folder located in the home folder. Note that .cclcfox is a hidden folder so in order to display open the home folder and select the view then tick/select the box “show hidden files”. close when done
3. relaunch the client timer and “end the session”.

Common functions :



Green – start session
Yellow – pause and resume session
Red – stop session
Blue – continue session
Purple – swap session
Turquoise – set timeout (countdown)

to start the pre-paid session:
press the green and the turquoise and set the time...

to start the opentime session:
press the green button....

to pause the session:
press the yellow and to resume press again the yellow...

to continue the session
if the customer accidentally stops the session it can be continued by pressing the blue button

to swap the session:
if the customer of ubuntu1(workstation) wants to transfer to ubuntu8 for some reason simply choose the ubuntu1 icon and press the purple button and choose the ubuntu8 pc. The time consumed, left or account is also transferred...


Remote functions: (right click the icon)




Turn off:
remotely shutdown the workstation …

Reboot:
remotely restart the workstation ….

Turn off screen:
remotely turn off the client workstation monitor

Allow users to start the session:
if selected user can start the session by clicking the pop-up tab on the workstation lockscreen marked as "click here to start"

Allow members to start the session:
it allows the member to start the session by pressing the enter and log-in with members id and password(default password is the members id)

Set member:



Server:
1. choose the member tab
2. set a new member by clicking the new button
3. select (highlighted) the newly created member and fill in the blanks with members info if necessary
4. press the reset password
5. if done click apply changes
6. right click the workstation icon and set to allow members start the session

Workstation:
1. press enter and log the members id
2. the default password is the members id

to change the members password in the workstation:
1. click the "set password" below the timer
2. fill in the blanks, if done press ok

To uninstall the cclfox (client and server):
open the terminal
$cd libccls-0.7.1cd cclfox-0.7.1
$make uninstall

Source : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=777093&highlight=billing+system

Warzone 2100 An Alternative to C&C



If you are new to Linux Operating System such as Ubuntu, and you are games freak especially Real Time Strategy games such as Command & Conquer and your problem is, there is no C&C that was build for Linux, then you might to consider trying Warzone 2100 as an alternative to C&C.

Warzone 2100 is a 3D real-time strategy game that was released in 1999. It's source code was liberated in december 2004, and their current release is 2.3 beta version.

It's good start for FOSS community to bring users and cyber cafe owner's to try out this game for marketing Linux and others Unix Like Operating System as gaming platform.

And if you interesting to setup such linux diskless gaming client using DRBL, you might to consider installing Warzone 2100 into your DRBL server, I've try Warzone 2100 playing on my diskless gaming client and it work perfectly without any problem at all either network gaming or campaign.

More info:
Website : http://www.wz2100.net
Forum : http://forums.wz2100.net
Project Page : http://sourceforge.net/projects/warzone2100/

Friday, January 08, 2010

Smoothwall for routing your client internet access

One of the most important thing that cyber cafe or internet cafe owners should not forget is a firewall. I am going to brief about firewall history here, but from my experiences dealing with business that has an internet access, a firewall is a must.

They are many kind of firewall system and application you can try just for free, and one of them is Smoothwall Express.

Installing and configuring a Linux firewall can be one of the most difficult tasks Linux administrators face. In addition to actually configuring the gateway, few admin pros have expertise with securing the network through ipchains.

Not to worry. The SmoothWall Linux distribution simplifies the otherwise daunting task of sharing Internet connections and providing network security. This relatively new Linux distribution is used for one purpose: to provide an easy-to-configure firewall with minimal hardware requirements. Typically, you can convert an older desktop system that has outlived its word-processing and Web-surfing usefulness into a formidable firewall box. SmoothWall is able to run on processors as old as a 386 with 8 MB of RAM. In this Daily Drill Down, I’ll discuss how to install and configure SmoothWall.

What you need
  • Intel-based PC (386 or greater) with 8 MB of RAM
  • CD-ROM drive
  • 100 MB of disk space
  • Access to a CD-ROM writer

Source : http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1053408.html

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Gyachi an alternative to Yahoo Messenger Freak!!

Most of the time when you start to run a cyber cafe business, and one of the major part as cyber cafe purpose in service providing is a communication, besides email, instant messenger is one big thing that you must have it at your cyber cafe workstation, and Yahoo Messenger get a big part in instant messenger users, sadly for us who running an open source software didn't get this attention from Yahoo Messenger developer, I've heard a rumors that Yahoo and Microsoft had an agreement or MOU to distribute Yahoo Messenger only for Windows platform.

But the FOSS community has come out with other alternative by making an alternative to Yahoo Messenger that's can support all the YM features, it's called Gyachi. According to the Gyachi website, the program is a fork from Gyach Enhanced Yahoo! client for Linux operating system. It was born purely out of impatience. Since there was no progress on Gyach Enhanced for about a year, a couple of impatient GYach Enhanced users decided to continue development of that client, fearing that original author Erica Andrews lost interest or abandoned project altogether. Therefore, in the true spirit of Open Source we, the developers, thought of simply "carrying on the torch".[1]




This Yahoo! client for Linux operating system supports almost all of the features you would expect to find on the official Windows Yahoo! client: Voice chat, webcams, faders, 'nicknames', audibles, avatars, display images, and more. Yet, it remains very light-weight and memory-friendly. GyachE Improved uses Gtk-2 for its user interfaces (Gtk-2 2.0.6 or better required).[1]


I've try Gyachi before, although the interface is not smooth enough, I could say that Gyachi couldn't attract my eyes enough to use it but the function works well. Between Gyachi and Pidgin interms for connection established, Gyachi is the winner for me, but right know, Pidgin still my best choice as instant messenger software for the moment.

Reference :
[1] - http://gyachi.sourceforge.net/intro.shtml

Sunday, December 27, 2009

gBilling Free Software Cyber Cafe Billing System

I am not yet giving up my intention to encourage people to run a cyber cafe business base on free open source software, but I got a little bit frustrated with Point Of Sales/Cyber Cafe Management System development progress for cyber cafe purpose with this community.

But in this early year I've found new cyber cafe billing system at sourceforge.net called gBilling, it was writen by Ardhan Madras, I tried to use it at my cyber cafe but the software does not has any other language than the Indonesian only, beside that the rates setting is quite difficult to be configured, so I just stick with CCLFOX as my billing system for my cyber cafe.


gBilling screenshot taken from my billing counter.

Otherwise, the gBilling system is quite nice with clean and smooth interface, easy to navigate, and recently I had visit their forum to find out their latest progress, and I've notice that they now are working up with Beta 3.

Down here is my translation about the gBilling software, the contents of the original web site is in Indonesia, sorry for the bad translation.

What is gBilling?

gBilling is a payment system application warnet (internet cafe billing system) which consists of server and client, gBilling expected to run on multi-platform (Linux, BSD, MacOS, or Microsoft Windows). gBilling written in C, with a GTK2 GUI toolkit (The GIMP Toolkit), and using SQLite as a database system and data storage. gBilling will always be under the GNU Public License (GPL) version 2, please read this license before the use, distribution and modification gBilling. Support gBilling development by participating in the writing program code, write documentation, bug reports or make a donation. Incoming donations will greatly help the development of gBilling, like to buy Linux distros, buy the operating system that has not been tested like Windows Vista (never thought pirated; p), and other purposes. To make a donation, please contact the author.


Brief history

The author makes this application at the first time when he was writing a network application for FreeBSD server (March, 2008) roughly similar to the workings of internet cafe billing applications, and at the time the project is completed the network application, the writer interested in writing the actual warnet(cybercafe/intercafe) billing application. The author chose to port it on GNU / Linux (Linux) because Linux is an ideal system for Warnet. Despite the time that not many (like hanging out and many have heard the song; p) he began to write gBilling from scratch. Because the socket programming on any compatible system, and libraries used to run in all these systems, gBilling should also be able to walk on any system with no or little modification,
like Winsock in Windows that uses special functions (but still provide socket compatibility with UNIX / BSD) and the error code that is not like UNIX. GBilling first written in Python, as the development of these applications such as system calls, the API libraries are used, a scripting language is considered no longer appropriate and gBilling rewritten to C, so far for the GLib wrapper functions POSIX and Windows API.

gBilling model is base on TCP / IP server model, which means that the server can serve the client request simultaneous (concurrent) without waiting for another client request to completed. This concurrent is achieved by using a thread to each client request such as scheduling, timeout or socket operation (IO). gBilling properly programmed to meet the conditions of thread-safe, but can not be guaranteed gBilling is thread-safe, because of that, a program examination should be done with application debugging, or using thread-safety detection.

Debugging complex applications and multi-thread is not easy, we must have patience, skill, and a lot of time (yes, we should have plenty of time; p). gBilling written in C for speed and portability, unlike high-level languages such as Java, PHP or Python to access system calls and APIs via its runtime (which is also a system-level programming). C will teach us how to access system calls and the API directly from libraries provided by the system.


GBilling Why?

Because gBilling is free software (free software), you can take advantage of this application. You can modify according to your needs, you can learn how to work and make applications gBilling your own billing, you can participate in developing this program, and others. gBilling will always be written with the portability mangacu(I dont know what it mean), gBilling will not refer only to one system which would be a waste of time.

gBilling not made for profit or reward, gBilling made to support a free operating system like Linux to be used properly for the cafe. Once again gBilling is free software under the GNU General Public License version 2, not the OSI Open Source, BSD license and so on.



GBilling features:

    
* Multiplatform (UNIX: Linux, MacOS, BSD, and Microsoft Windows) to 32-bit architecture and 64-bit

    
* Concurrent TCP / IP server model (IPv4)

    
* Multithreaded (per-client thread, with GLib Thread)

    
* Orientation storage database (SQLite embedding)

    
* Full control of the server (logout, shutdown, restart, close / open the login client)

    
* Detects inactive clients (client programs that are not active or client computer)

    
* System logging and log export to CSV format

    
* Recovery (data recovery server / client for the power loss, system crash)

    
* Authentication users (GLib data hashing)

    
* Chat

    
* System package

    
* Item System (The items are sold in cafes displayed on the client)

    
* Customize according to your internet cafe (warnet name, slogan, address)

    
* Free software; p

Other features such as a system member (members), vouchers, screen capture and others will be developed in the next version.
 

Website : http://gbilling.sourceforge.net/ 
Forum : http://gbilling.freeforums.org/ 
More Screenshot : http://gbilling.sourceforge.net/screenshot.html